WASHINGTON — A Pakistani citizen was arrested in Quebec this week and accused of plotting to kill "as many Jewish civilians as possible" in New York City on or near the first anniversary of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks on Israelis, according to a Justice Department complaint unsealed Friday.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, who lived in Canada, tried to cross the border with the intention of travelling to New York, where he planned to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn, in support of the Islamic State group, prosecutors said.
"New York is perfect to target Jews," he wrote to an associate, according to the filing, adding, "We could rack up easily a lot of Jews."
He also boasted that his plan would be "the largest Attack on US soil since 9/11," the filing said.
Khan was taken into custody by Canadian authorities Wednesday after trying to enter the United States from Ormstown, about 12 miles (19 kilometres) north of the New York state border. He changed vehicles three times en route to the border, perhaps to evade detection, prosecutors said.
The complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York, also mentions an unnamed associate, but it was unclear whether that person was in custody, at large or an informant.
Khan is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organisation, the Islamic State (IS) group, and faces up to 20 years in prison.
The complaint comes amid a rise in threats against Jews and Muslims in the United States, exacerbated by the war in the Gaza Strip and tensions across the Middle East. During one weekend in May, investigators responded to bomb threats against three synagogues in Brooklyn.
In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland thanked Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigators and said that US officials were "deeply grateful to our Canadian partners for their critical law enforcement actions in this matter."
"Jewish communities — like all communities in this country — should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fuelled terrorist attack," he said.
Starting in November, FBI agents in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles began monitoring Khan's electronic communications after he posted expressions of support for the Islamic State group and distributed propaganda videos and literature from groups that had been designated as terrorist organisations.
His encrypted messages that prosecutors detailed centred on efforts to recruit members for a terror cell, obtain an arsenal and identify Jewish targets in New York.
Two of the people he believed were fellow the Islamic State group supporters were in fact undercover law enforcement officials. Over the past year, according to the complaint, they collected detailed information about his intention to carry out a “coordinated assault” using AR-15-style weapons to target Jewish or Israel-related targets, including institutions associated with the Chabad Hasidic movement of Judaism.
The complaint does not specify whether he was able to obtain weapons, though it says he urged others to do so. His planning included instructions on which locations to attack, how to conduct video surveillance and where to rent apartments that were close to Jewish targets, according to the complaint.
In messages detailed in the complaint, Khan said he believed that Oct 7 would be an ideal time to attack because large numbers of Jews would be gathered for the anniversary, which comes four days before Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
He originally had intended to attack an unnamed city, prosecutors said, but switched to New York after noting that it had a higher concentration of Jewish people. He also considered hiring a human trafficker to smuggle him across the border to avoid law enforcement.
In one exchange, prosecutors said, Khan discussed hoping to acquire "some good hunting" knives to attack Jews.
He also suggested that the assault could be a suicide attack, to inspire support for the Islamic State group, according to the complaint.
The Justice Department has begun extradition proceedings against Khan. He is set to appear in Montreal court Sept 13, according to a statement by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
It was not immediately clear if he had obtained legal representation in the United States.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
